Learning Curve
by knightlycat
Summary: Blaine gets a job as a substitute teacher at a local high school. Will things go as well as he hopes? Third one-shot in the Not Like the Movies 'verse.


**Here is the third in a series of Not Like the Movies one-shots. Special thanks to gonerdherd and 20thcenturyvole for the prompts that fed this story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.  
**

* * *

_Buzz is heating up around the forthcoming _X-Men: Reckoning_, scheduled to hold its star-studded premier next month in Hollywood. Reaction to the first trailer, released back in December, was overwhelming positive, with many fans happily surprised at the emphasis placed on Kurt Hummel's Northstar, who will be the first openly gay superhero featured in a movie. That action packed trailer was followed up recently with a longer version that gives more insight into the plot and introduced a few other new characters, though more screen time was still given to Northstar, leading many to believe that his role in the movie is much more significant than previously thought… __—__Movie Dateline, April 2__nd__, 2020._

=^..^=

Spring in New York City was a beautiful thing, but Blaine had an even better reason to be excited. He'd passed his certification tests and he was now officially able to teach in the state of New York. It wasn't the best time of year job search-wise, since schools were already fully staffed for the school year, but he planned on using his time wisely and getting some substitute teaching positions in order to beef up his résumé. He had hopes of getting on at a private school in the fall. A school that had high profile students attending might find his bodyguard experience appealing and he wasn't ashamed to use any advantage he had in such a tough job market.

He'd registered with the New York City Public School system as a substitute just the week before and had been prepared to wait for a while to be contacted, but he'd received a call on Saturday asking if he would be able to take a three week substituting position at a local high school while a teacher was out for surgery. He'd been glad that Kurt hadn't been home when the call had come in, because he never would have heard the end about the dance of joy he'd done in the kitchen. He'd spent the rest of the weekend going over the lesson plans the school had emailed him for the English and creative writing classes he'd be teaching.

Blaine woke up early Monday morning and nearly bounded out of bed in his excitement, slapping at the alarm clock to turn it off before it woke Kurt up. The differences in their schedules were the only bad part about his new job. Since Kurt worked nights, he would be going to the theater only a few hours after Blaine got home, so their time together was going to be limited for next several weeks. It would be good practice for the future, though.

He walked into the bathroom to take his shower and found a crisp new bow tie and the most gorgeous leather messenger bag waiting for him on the counter with a note from Kurt saying how proud he was of him. He carried the items into the closet and lifted the blue and pink patterned tie up next to the light blue shirt he had planned on wearing. It was a perfect match. How had Kurt known? He took his shower, trying hard to be quiet, since Kurt could easily sleep for another couple of hours, and tip-toed into the closet to change. He was just straightening his tie when the sound of dishes clanking caught his attention. He poked his head out into the room to find the bed empty, so he followed the noise to the kitchen to find Kurt whipping up an omelet, the table already set for breakfast.

"You didn't have to get up with me," he said as he kissed Kurt good morning and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"And have you go off into the jungle that is the public school system without a nutritious breakfast and a good luck kiss? It's like you don't know me at all," Kurt sighed as he flipped the omelet in the air and caught it again neatly in the pan.

Blaine chattered about his plans for the day as they ate and sat with a giant, goofy grin on his face as Kurt packed up a lunch for him, tucking it into his new messenger bag along with a notebook and his iPad. He got his kiss (and also a slightly inappropriate pat on the butt that nearly turned into a grope) and set off for the subway for his first official day of teaching.

After a quick introduction to the school from the Vice Principle, Blaine settled into his classroom, waiting for the first students to arrive. He knew that it was silly to have high expectations of the impact he would have as a substitute, but he couldn't help picturing his students fondly calling him "Mr. A" and telling him about how he had changed their lives _Dead Poets Society_ style. He laughed to himself at the thought and nervously tidied the pile of books sitting on the corner of the desk. The warning bell sounded in the hallway and he took a calming breath to try and bring his pounding heart rate under control as footsteps started to echo in the hallway outside. Was this how Kurt felt on opening night?

The kids arrived and he introduced himself, ridiculously proud that he'd only had to clear his throat once in order to get his voice to work properly. He'd stared down kidnappers with guns and crazy stalkers, but a room full of high school sophomores might be the scariest thing he had ever faced. He put on his famous confident, dapper smile and went to work.

The class passed quickly and while no one had dropped down at his feet declaring that he was already their favorite teacher, he thought that it had gone pretty well. Unfortunately, things only seemed to go downhill from there. Third period was his first writing class of the day and from almost the first moment something seemed off. There was a lot of whispering and talking every time he turned his back and he had to chastise one of the girls for using her cell phone in class, which was strictly against school policy. He had wanted to engage the kids in a discussion of the hero's journey in literature, which he knew they'd been studying the week before, but he couldn't get anyone to respond to any of his questions. The guys mostly looked bored and the girls in the class just stared at him as if he had an extra head growing out of his shoulder. He wondered self-consciously for a second if the bow tie had been a bad choice.

It only got worse during his next class, where he had to confiscate two phones and separate a pair of girls who wouldn't stop talking and passing notes. By the end of the day he felt like a failure. If he couldn't get the kids to respect him or his authority, what kind of teacher would he be? Was he trying too hard to be the "cool" guy? Could the kids see right through him?

Disheartened, he trudged home through a light spring rain, needing to curl up on the couch for a while, preferably with Kurt acting as the big spoon. He opened the door and Kurt came rushing out of the bedroom to greet him. The bright smile on his face faded when he saw Blaine's expression and he clucked his tongue as he divested Blaine of his jacket and bag and settled them both on the couch.

"They hated me," Blaine mumbled as he laid his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"Did anyone butter the floor or try and nail your shoes to your desk while you were still wearing them?" Kurt asked as he rubbed his hand in a soothing circle on Blaine's back.

Blaine brought his head up and looked at Kurt in disbelief. "Nooo…."

"Well, then, you fared better than the substitutes at my high school and the kids definitely didn't hate you." Kurt carded his fingers through Blaine's hair. "Tell me what happened."

After he told his tale of woe, Blaine realized that things hadn't been quite as bad as he'd made them out to be in his head. It was modern day high school, after all. Cell phones and short attention spans would explain most of the problems he'd faced. He just had to come up with a way to really pull the kids in. He and Kurt brainstormed ideas and he was feeling a hundred percent better by the time he pulled out his computer to work on some discussion questions for the next day.

=^..^=

As he approached his classroom the next morning, he had to wade his way through a crowd of girls who were gathered outside. He smiled at a few of the students he recognized and was pleasantly surprised to hear a few wavering calls of "Hi, Mr. Anderson!" as he slipped in the door. It wasn't "Mr. A", but he would take it.

Unfortunately, the day went even worse than the day before. During his first class, everyone stared at him silently, watching his every move, but not listening to what he was saying. In second period, it seemed like every time he turned his back the class broke out into giggles. It was happening so often that he'd even surreptitiously run a hand over his back, thinking that they might have stuck a sign to him. During his fourth class of the day he was convinced that a joke was being played on him. The class, which according to the attendance sheet had 32 students in it, was full to bursting and he ended up having to ask 19 people to leave because they didn't belong there. But he was unable to bring the class under control, even after ejecting the pranksters. Almost everyone had a phone out, texting and taking pictures. He mentally ripped another day off his employment calendar. Only 13 more days to go.

When he got home that night he didn't even take his coat off before collapsing face first on the bed.

"I take it things didn't go any better?" Kurt called out quietly from the doorway.

Blaine rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. "Can you understand me? Cause I swear I must have been speaking like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon all day long. Mwa mwa, mwa mwa mwa."

He felt the bed dip as Kurt sat down next to him. "Umm… I think something else may be going on here. Come take a look."

Kurt pulled him up off the bed and out to the kitchen table, where he picked up his tablet and opened the Twitter app. He did a quick search then clicked a link in one of the Tweets. He bit his lip and slowly handed the tablet over to Blaine to look at.

_Oh. My. God. Blaine Anderson is at my school RIGHT NOW he's substitute teaching in my English class. Soooo much cuter in person. Can't concentrate. I'm in the room with ½ of my RL OTP. How can this be my life? _

_Uhh do we have any verification of this? _

_Its true! I'm in the same class! His ass is to die for guhhhhhhh #hes wearing a bow tie #i cry_

_OFMG Do you think Kurt will pick him up from school one day? Maybe he'll come to our school play. Is it too late for me to join drama? _

_Does anyone have any Kurt/Blaine Au fic recs where they are teacher and student? I need them. For science._

_Oh my god you are so lucky. My English teacher has ear hair and spits when he talks_

_Where are the pics? I NEEDS THEM #my precious_

_Please tell me he put a picture of Kurt on his desk and gazes lovingly at it during the day #lie to me if you have to_

_I have never been more thankful for the time it takes to recover from hip replacement surgery. Dear Mr. Appleton, I hope you are feeling well, but there is no need to hurry back, we are in good hands. Love, your 3rd period writing class._

_I told all my friends yesterday and a bunch of them tried to crash our class today. You should have seen his expression when the class had twice as many people as it should #poor confused baby_

_Everyone should just chill out. He's trying to do a job and you shouldn't make it harder on him. Show a little class, jeeze._

Blaine could feel his cheeks heat up as he read down the screen. When he got to one highly sexual comment (thankfully not made by one of his students), he closed his eyes and set the tablet down with a groan.

"Welcome to the world of objectification," Kurt hooted as he scrolled down to read some more. "You have quite the little fan club here. I'm so proud." He jokingly pretended to wipe away a tear and smiled as Blaine groaned again.

"How am I going to face them now?" Blaine wondered. "I'm supposed to be their teacher. How can I teach when I know they're thinking…this?"

"Don't you see, this is good news!" Kurt grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "They don't hate you. They love you and the way they've been behaving is all due to how excited they are to meet you. This changes everything. Use it. Use their fascination with you as a way to reach them and then knock their socks off by being the best damn teacher they've ever..."

Blaine was in Kurt's lap, capturing his mouth for a deep kiss, before he was even done speaking. The room was quiet for a while, with only the sounds of their heavy breathing and moist lips moving together breaking the silence. Finally, Blaine pulled back to suggest they make a quick (well, not _too_ quick) trip to the bedroom before Kurt had to leave for his evening performance.

=^..^=

At school the next day, Blaine didn't let on that he'd read what the students had been posting, but he definitely saw everything that was going on through new eyes. He could see it clearly now — the lingering looks, the blushing, the rapid text messaging as girls left the classroom, the conversations that came to an abrupt halt whenever he walked by. He wondered why his much vaunted observational skills, that had helped him so much as a bodyguard, had failed him at such an inopportune moment.

He took Kurt's advice and tried to use the fascination that many of the students had with him to benefit his lesson plans and by the beginning of the second week he could genuinely say that both he and the kids were having a good time. The stares and whispering had slowly decreased until he was finally able to walk down the hallway with little notice, just like any other teacher.

On his second Tuesday teaching, he arrived at his classroom a little early and was surprised to find a small group of girls already there. From what he could hear of their conversation, one of the girls had recently gotten a new dog and she was showing pictures to some friends.

"Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine looked up to find the girls all looking at him. "Yes, Stephanie?"

Stephanie looked as if she'd changed her mind about whatever she'd been about to say, but the girl beside her gave her a poke in the side to egg her on. "Y-you just got a new dog, right? Elphie?"

Blaine blinked, surprised at the question. It was the first time that anyone at the school had come right out and said anything to him that indicated that they knew who he was. He decided that Stephanie was either very brave or had lost a bet and been forced to be the one to broach the subject. He smiled to set her at ease. "Yes, we've had her a little over a month."

"Kurt...Kurt tweeted a picture of her. She looked so cute." Stephanie's face turned red when she said Kurt's name and Blaine was thrilled to note that her reaction to Kurt was much more pronounced than it had ever been for him. He was very happy to only be an object of fascination due to his proximity to Kurt.

"I think she may be the cutest dog alive," Blaine smiled. "No offense to any of your dogs, of course. Would you like to see some pictures?"

The girls' eyes got wide as they all nodded in unison. Blaine pulled out his phone and called up the album of photos dedicated to Elphie. Kurt was in some of the photos, but Blaine knew that he had already deleted any photos where he didn't look his best and would be okay with Blaine sharing them. He beckoned the girls over to the desk and they bunched around him as he flipped through the ten or so photos he had. Stephanie and her friends cooed over Elphie and giggled wildly whenever Kurt appeared in a picture.

"Wow, Mr. Anderson, you should tweet one of these photos out. Everyone's been dying for another pic of Elphie. You'd start a riot or something for sure." The photo sharing seemed to have made Stephanie even braver.

"I don't really Tweet, but I'll see what I can do," Blaine said, just as the bell rang and the rest of the students tromped into the room. "Okay, did everyone get their two page essay done? Okay, now let's move onto our next book…"

Blaine had Kurt Tweet an Elphie photo that night dedicated to Blaine's students and he thought that he heard a distinctively feminine squeal of excitement rise up over the city seconds later, but it was probably just his imagination.

=^..^=

It was the last day of Blaine's substituting assignment and he was sad that it was over. Though the start had been rocky, it'd turned out to be a completely satisfying experience and had just confirmed in his mind that he was now on the right career path. It seemed as if the kids were going to miss him, too. They'd been bringing him little goodbye gifts all day long and the kids in his final class of the day had even brought in cupcakes. The Vice Principle had called him in that morning and told him how impressed she was and indicated that there might be a full-time position available for him the next school year. While he hadn't fully given up on the idea of working at a private school, he fully admitted that coming back and seeing these kids again next year was appealing.

He pulled open his messenger bag and slipped his notebook into it, looking around to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

"Mr. A?"

Blaine looked up to see a quiet boy from his third period writing class standing in the doorway. "Gregory, come in. Is there something I can help you with?"

Gregory came up to the desk and began to fiddle nervously with a whiteboard pen. "I don't want to bother you, but I know it's your last day and I didn't want to pass up this opportunity." He took a deep breath and looked up from the desk. "I'm gay and I-I used to be bullied at school… a lot. Last year, when they announced the new X-Men movie and they said that Northstar was going to be one of the major characters I couldn't believe it. And when Kurt got the part I…" Blaine waited patiently while Gregory gathered his thoughts. "The first trailer showed Northstar being such a badass and suddenly some of the bullies didn't think it was so horrible to be gay anymore. I know this is most likely just a temporary reprieve and that they'll probably be back in full force by next year, but it doesn't matter so much anymore. I look at you and Kurt and I see what I want someday and now I know I can have it. I'm really embarrassed to ask this, but I have a letter for Kurt and I-I was hopingyoumightdeliveritforme ?" Gregory rushed through his request and waited wide-eyed for Blaine to respond.

Blaine hadn't seen any evidence of bullying while he'd been at the school, but he knew that was probably due more to coincidence than any actual lack of a problem and his heart hurt to hear Gregory accept so matter-of-factly that his bullies would return to torment him again. He knew that Kurt got letters every day with stories not unlike Gregory's, but this was the first time anyone had ever included him as one of their inspirations. He cleared his throat and smiled gently. "Why don't you give it to him yourself?" He nodded towards the open doorway, where Kurt stood, tears in his eyes.

Gregory followed his gaze and seemed to nearly pass out when it registered that Kurt was there, standing right in front of him. Kurt walked into the room and stood next to Blaine, one hand automatically dropping onto his neck and playing with the hair there. That and an intertwined arm were about the extent of the PDA that Kurt was comfortable with. Blaine would be kissing him everywhere they went if it was up to him, but it just wasn't Kurt's thing. Add to that the whole celebrity, anyone-could-be-taking-a-picture-at-any-moment thing and it really made sense, but it didn't keep Blaine from wishing for more.

He could see that Kurt wanted to give Gregory a hug, but his personal space issues and the borderline inappropriateness of a grown man hugging a teenage boy who was a stranger to him, no matter what the circumstances, kept him at arms-length.

"I'd love to read the letter," Kurt said softly, his emotions all there in his eyes for Gregory to see.

Gregory handed him the envelope with a trembling hand and Kurt began to ask him questions. They talked for several minutes and Blaine knew that he and Kurt would probably be coming back to the school, if not because of him having a job there, because they wanted to check up on how things were going for the boy.

They finally said their goodbyes and Gregory left them alone in the classroom.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked with a wide smile as he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Well, there was no school play scheduled during your assignment, so I figured this was my only chance to come see my man in his element. I'm sorry I waited until after classes were over, but I didn't want to take away from your final classes. But seeing you here, all official looking behind this desk?" Kurt gave an exaggerated shiver and pulled Blaine to him with an arm around his waist. "I think I have a new fantasy for us to play with at home."

Blaine was having a hard time making his brain connect correctly with his mouth. "You-you do?"

"Hmmm…" Kurt murmured as he gave Blaine a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm picturing you wearing just that bow tie and your glasses, carrying a ruler. I think I'm about to be a very naughty boy and might need some discipline."

Blaine let out a completely inarticulate noise that he felt accurately communicated everything he was thinking and feeling.

Kurt laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door. "Come on, professor. Let's go give some teenage fan girls a thrill."


End file.
